Investigation of the Public Awareness on Water Environment in Hanjiang River Basin of China

LIU Chen, WANG Qinxue, LI Quanpeng, ISHIMURA Sadao

doi:10.11353/sesj.25.333

With China′s rapid economic development, the water quality of water bodies has gone from bad to worse. In addition to government and enterprises, ordinary citizens need also to play an important role in reducing the deterioration of the water environment. Therefore, it is very important to reveal Chinese people′s awareness of the water environment though surveys and studies of awareness of the water environment have been few. Referring to the water environmental consciousness investigation performed in Japan, we investigated awareness of the water environment in urban and rural areas of the Hanjiang River basin, Hubei Province from March to May 2008. According to the results of the investigation, by a comparative study with the case of Japan, we examined people′s awareness of problems of the water environment in the Hanjiang River Basin from the following viewpoints, (1) current water environment problems; (2) routine life with water problems; (3) measures for the protection of the water environment; (4) national efforts to protect the water environment; (5) national requirements for water environmental policy. As a result, many similarities were revealed concerning awareness of the water environment, recognition of current water environment problems and water environmental protection measures between the Hanjiang River Basin in China, and Japan. Industrial wastewater discharge was considered as the main cause of river water pollution in the Hanjiang River Basin, while domestic wastewater discharge was recognized as the main cause in Japan, which shows a clear difference between them. Much attention has been paid to the problem of industrial wastewater in China, though in recent years water pollution caused by domestic wastewater has increased rapidly and this has received much less attention. Although many people are hoping for improvements in the water environment in the Hanjiang River Basin, few people know how to reduce water pollution in their daily lives. It is hoped that comparative studies such as this one may be helpful in the planning of future measures for water environment conservation in China.

Investigation of the Public Awareness on Water Environment in Hanjiang River Basin of China

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